What Your Old Coins Are Actually Worth
A jar of old change is usually worth more than face value and less than the internet promised. The difference between the two comes down to date, mint mark, metal content and condition — in that order.
- Do not clean coins. Cleaning can cut value dramatically.
- US dimes, quarters and halves dated 1964 or earlier are 90% silver.
- Mint marks are tiny letters that can multiply a coin’s value.
- Bring the album, the holders and the paperwork as they are.
First: is it silver, gold, or just old?
Age alone does not make a coin valuable — plenty of hundred-year-old pennies are worth a few cents. Metal content is the reliable floor.
US dimes, quarters and half dollars dated 1964 and earlier are 90% silver. Kennedy halves from 1965 to 1970 are 40% silver. Nickels struck between 1942 and 1945 with a large mint mark above the dome are 35% silver. Every one of those has a value tied to the silver market, regardless of condition.
Then: date, mint mark, and condition
Above the metal floor sits collector value, and that is where the real money hides. A common Morgan dollar is a silver coin with a modest premium. The same coin from a scarce year or a low-output mint can be worth many multiples of that. The mint mark is a single small letter — often on the reverse — and it changes everything.
Condition is graded on a 70-point scale, and the top grades command enormous premiums. This is exactly why coins should be seen in person rather than described over the phone.
- Morgan and Peace silver dollars
- Pre-1965 silver dimes, quarters and half dollars
- Wheat pennies, Indian Head cents, buffalo nickels
- 1942–45 silver war nickels
- Gold Eagles, Krugerrands, Maple Leafs, sovereigns
- Graded coins in PCGS or NGC holders
- Silver certificates and old US paper currency
The mistake that costs the most
Do not clean your coins. Not with polish, not with a cloth, not with a pencil eraser. Collectors pay for original surfaces, and cleaning leaves microscopic scratches that a buyer with a loupe sees instantly. A cleaned coin can lose a large share of its collector premium in seconds.
Leave everything exactly as you found it — in the album, in the flip, in the cigar box. Bring it in that way.
Selling a coin collection on Long Island
If you inherited a collection and have no idea what is in it, that is the normal case, not the awkward one. We go through it with you, separate the bullion from the collectible, and explain what we see as we go. Free, and with no obligation to sell any of it.
We buy coins from sellers throughout Nassau and Suffolk County at our Massapequa shop.